We visited Coach’s preview for Spring 2014, where white and color blocking were big themes. The overall look was clean and classic, allowing the various colored leathers to make the statement. The color blocked bags also look fresh and the look worked as well for men as it did for women.
It wasn’t officially stated, though one has to view this collection as designer Reed Krakoff’s last hurrah for Coach, though depending on who you speak with, designs were said to reflect more of a team effort rather than a top down push from Krakoff.
According to press, new designer for Coach, British-born Stuart Vever is now in New York, settling into his new home in the West Village with his “crates” recently arrived from Spain where he was the head designer for Loewe. He had a bit of a coming out party with the press last night and talked about how excited he is to begin working for Coach.
Vever has his work cut out for him. Coach grew tremendously under Krakoff’s tenure and it very proudly sits on its identity as an authentic heritage brand with a large U.S. market share. However, the handbag environment over the past three year has morphed dramatically and suddenly Coach finds itself facing heavy competition from not just the surging Kors but a host of other designers that are chasing the bag business.
It will be interesting to see what new direction Vever takes Coach. He has a reputation for designing bags that become “it” items, which Coach could really use a few of. The offerings for Spring 2014 seemed to be a bit on the sparse side so who knows maybe by the time warm weather hits in 2014, we’ll have a look see at some items that include Vever’s influence.
See more Coach images on the next page. All via TheSnobette.
